Preface

Over the past years, there has been a spur of interest in herbal technology with the trend of people being more interested in natural and holistic ways of treating and maintaining health. The book, Textbook of Herbal Medicine and Pharmacy is an attempt to unite the traditional knowledge of herbal medicine with modern scientific studies with a view to offering a holistic source to the students, researchers and practitioners in herbal medicine.

This book starts with an introduction on the core concepts of herbal technology, its extension, focus of the same, and significance in the current world. We explore the rich history of ancient civilisation in terms of traditional and alternative medical practices, as found in Egypt, China, India, Greece and Rome, and the development of these into modern integrative practices. This historical view offers some baseline in interpreting the way ancient practices influenced present herbal medicine.

The chapters about cultivation, harvesting, processing, and storage of herbs provide some practical information about the sustainable and efficient production of high-quality herbal products. As the demand of herbal medicines is increasing, it is vital to learn about these processes to decide the efficacy of herbal remedies, their safety, and reliability.

The book deals with the processes of extracting and deciding active constituents of plant species with emphasis on the scientific approaches to isolation and study of bioactive constituents on herbs. Such methods are the core of herbal research and allow herbal preparations to be created in a standardised and useful way.

We also discuss the medical preparation and dosage of herbal drugs and give advice in the preparation of the different herbal products like powders, tablets, capsules, extracts, tinctures and topical applications. One cannot overestimate the role of a proper formulation to guarantee the therapeutic efficacy of herbal products.

The emphasis on network pharmacology is one of the peculiarities of this book as it is a novel technique based on systems biology and bioinformatics to understand the intricate relationships of herbal compounds in biological networks. This is revolutionizing herbal research, which opens the multifaceted effects of herbal medicines so that individualized herbal therapy can be started.

In the book, we use stress on the importance of quality control, standardization, and compliance with the regulations in the herbal industry. The main issue concerns the safety and effectiveness of herbal products. This book gives a general overview of the methods and practices that are applied to carry out these goals.

We trust that this book can be of great use to any person interested in the field of herbal technology, whether newly introduced to the topic or an experienced practitioner looking to learn more. With a blend of ancient knowledge and the application of current science, textbooks on herbal medicine and pharmacy are set to encourage and empower the reader to make a difference in the emerging knowledge on natural health and medicine.